The answer is really easy, just don't hit anything, LOL

 

You are absolutely right, but believe me, it was perceived as a tax on driving.

 

A little off topic but Grey lost his job for more than what you have stated; he was an absolute incompetent, lacking any personality and totally out of touch with the people. In other words a true douche bag.

 

No arguments there.

In my state.....Virginia.....he wouldn't have gotten elected even to the local town or county level. Even in liberal Arlington and Alexandria.....which are different from the entire rest of the state...his election would have been questionable.

 

Well, CA has that too...some of the highest gas taxes in the country. But to be fair, it is not just a tax issue there. CARB and the State Government have dictated such strict requirements for the oxygenated gas sold there that just the cost of refining it and the fact that it is sold only in CA and a few other areas dictates a high price because of the limited market and the fact that it is not cost-effective.

Sorry, mods.....I know we got off-topic, but some good points were brought up.

 

tid bid of info. Aldof Hitler invented the Autobaun in germany. Kinda interesting huh

 

I'm not sure that's true, at least, not in the way that you are interpreting the word "autobahn." Hitler may have been responsible for highway construction projects. I really don't have any clue about that aspect of the regime.

Autobahn, in German, means highway. The no speed limit highways in Germany are not all over the place as many people presume. Most of them are in Bavaria. All highways in Germany are Autobahns, but most have speed limits. There are only a few that do not. You will find high speed limits (ca. 160 km/h / 100 mph in places as well as lower limits in metropolitan areas (100 km/h - 62 mph).

I didn't drive very much during my year in Germany, but I did drive some on the A7 and several other autobahns in Germany and I was never on one that did not have a speed limit.

The biggest difference between German drivers and American drivers is that the majority of Germans licensed to drive are very aware, compentent, and safe drivers. Here, any stooge with a checking account can get a driver's license.

 

Highway limit is generally 130km/h.
There are no 160km/h limits.

 

It's not surprising that the unlimited-speed highways are in Bavaria.....that is BMW's home.

The modern Autobahn system as we know it WAS Hitler's idea.........for military mobility, among other reasons. Gotta remember...at that time ( mid-1930's) he was secretly rearming Germany in defiance of the Versailles treaty. The original VW Beetle was also his idea...a cheap, simple, well-built car for the German masses during the Depression. Volks-Wagen literally means, in German , " Peoples' Car ". He ordered Dr. Ferdinand Porsche to come up with a design...... ( Remember.....Hitler, as dictator, never ASKED anyone in Germany to do anything ! ): The rest is history. That is why early Beetles and early Porsches were so similiar.
Our own Federal Interstate Highway system was President Eisenhower's idea back in the 1950's....using some of the ideas he saw in Germany during and after World War II, where, of course, he was the top Allied military commander.

 

That has nothing to do with it. The reason for the unlimited speed streches there is the lower population density.

Biker, who already misses European driving but has to settle for the Beltway.

 

It's hard to go back huh, when you'be tasted the german road network, LOL.

 

Yes. I avoid that f - - -ing Beltway like the plague. It is one of the most congested roads in the U.S.......and with some of the worst drivers.........perhaps THE most congested road outside of the L.A./ SoCal freeway system. I-66 between Arlington and Gainesville is also a mess.

I agree that lower population density is a big factor in the unlimited Autobahn stretches, but there is no denying that BMW's political as well as economic influence in Germany is very strong. And, of course, BMW wants roads that drivers can wring out their M cars on.

 

My experience has been that the folks that wring out their cars the most are Mario wannbe Audi/WV SW owners. A4 and Passat station wagons made up the majority of speeding cars.

Won't have much choice about the Beltway - it's on my commute route (albeit somewhat against rush hour traffic).